Tonight We Tell The Truth
by LoveEpicLove
Summary: What happens when lies are no longer an option, and buried feelings are brought to the surface? Damon, Elena, Stefan and Katherine consume the witch's brew and spend the night telling the truth.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A while ago I had someone ask me if I would write Damon as a vampire again. I have been unmotivated to go there, but this story is TVD therapy for me. I'm really just sort of using this as a venting story, and using it to work out some of my issues. So I'm not really going for realism here. I've tried writing a couple of one shots that haven't worked out, and have decided I can't do one-shots. This is my alternative. It will probably be no longer that 3 to 5 short parts.

Set sometime after the season 2 finale.

* * *

**Tonight We Tell The Truth**

"It was never meant for you, Damon. You opened the bottle without…"

"Don't try to make this my fault. You put the bottle right here. You're not that stupid."

"I thought you were out of town," she told him, hoping he would accept the explanation for what it was - the truth.

"So you intended this for my brother? Wonder what he'll make of that…"

Damon turned to walk away, but Elena's hand shot out and wrapped itself around his wrist. He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her explanation.

"No, Damon, just forget it. I'll take it home. It was a stupid idea, anyway."

"Well, I won't argue with you, but you're not leaving until you tell me why you had this made. Do I detect trouble in paradise?"

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

It wasn't exactly the smartest idea to taunt an already angry vampire, especially one who had just had Bonnie's special brew, but she wasn't afraid of him. He was the reason she lived today. He would never let anything happen to her; and that was the exact reason why she desperately needed to keep the lines drawn between them right now. Their arguments were by far the easiest part of their friendship.

"You know I would Elena; a fact that you have played upon for the past how ever many months now, a fact you and Stefan relied upon in the battle against Klaus."

"You can't honestly believe that," she said to him, stung by what he was suggesting about her, and horrified by the raw pain and emotion she could hear in his voice.

She already knew, however, that what he said was very much the truth. His face was taught, and his eyes were filled with an emotion she didn't want to look at too closely. Elena wondered for the umpteenth time if she would ever be able to avoid being like Katherine; if she would ever stop hurting these brothers.

"I care about you, Damon…"

"You care about me, you do, but you love Stefan. It's always going to be Stefan," he said in a sing-song voice that was filled with so much pain, she couldn't help but feel it in every cell of her body. It didn't, however, erase the anger that she still held onto from the night he was referencing.

"I hurt you that night, and you hurt me; I'd say we're about even."

"Even," Damon said, with a shake of his head.

Damon wondered if love and pain could be measured. If they could, who would win the medal for most pain inflicted? Perhaps it was too close to call. All he knew was that it always hurt to look at her; it always hurt to have her close, but out of reach, it always hurt to know she'd never be his. He was sick of hurting; he was tired of feeling like his heart had been yanked from his rib cage and put through a grinder every time she looked at him.

He would have died for her. He had willingly stepped out of his brother's way so they could stand side by side and protect her. Now she expected him to be happy that she 'cared'. Yeah, he was fucking ecstatic.

She'd come here with her bottle of tainted alcohol, opening him up, and ripping the truth from him; and the ridiculous part of it was that she didn't even want to know what he was feeling. She'd come to find out Stefan's feelings. It would always be Stefan. It would ALWAYS be Stefan. What would it take for him to stop deluding himself?

Some part of him had hoped that by the end of the bloody battle with Klaus, she would see something in him that might change her mind; that she might realize she belonged with him after all. It wasn't the reason he'd fought the battle, but he'd held on to that hope regardless. Now, he saw, it was very much time to let hope go and move on. Before he did, though, he knew exactly how he would spend tonight.

"Damon," she said tentatively.

She gasped with surprise when he reached for the glass bottle in her hands; the bottle which held the tainted alcohol she'd intended for his brother. He took a large sip, before placing it on the surface behind him.

"What are you…?"

He cut her off from talking by kissing her. His kiss was crushing and brutal, and she tried to fight him off, pushing against him. His arms anchored her to him, so she couldn't move away from him. The moment she opened her mouth to protest, he swept his tongue into her mouth, brushing it along hers. She moaned, and he had no idea if she was more of a protest or if she was enjoying it, and he didn't care. This wasn't for her. Most of what he'd done for the past few months had been for her; but this, this was for him. Once he'd painted her mouth with the alcohol on his tongue, he released her and stepped back, only to let her hand crack against his cheekbone.

Damon thought she looked like some kind of wild animal. "I warned you not to do that."

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked him angrily.

She didn't think he would touch her, but she was wrong. He would make her pay for that…later. Right now he could hear baby bro making his way down the stairs, with their house guest who had refused to leave. Suddenly he put it together in his head. That was why Elena had brought her 'present'. The look on her face told him that not only was he right, but that she didn't like the fact that he'd worked it out.

"Worried about Katherine, are we?"

"Please, Damon, don't…"

"Elena? What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming over," Stefan said, surprised.

Elena had already registered the fact that Stefan didn't entirely sound happy to see her, as she watched Damon reach behind him and pick up the bottle she'd brought over.

"Elena brought over a drink to share," Damon told them, already working on pouring four glasses.

"What…"

"You should be wary of humans bearing gifts, Damon," Katherine told him.

Elena tried not to think about the fact that Stefan and Katherine had come down the stairs together. Instead she focused on glaring at Damon, while ignoring Stefan's curious glances, and Katherine's look of daggers. She was stuck; there was nothing she could do to stop Damon from doing what he was doing, and he knew it. How was she supposed to ask Stefan the questions she needed to know now? The idea had been that Stefan would answer her questions without knowing what was in the bottle. She hated not knowing if Damon would keep her secret or let the cat out of the bag. Damon wouldn't understand her reasons for doing this. Bonnie had had a similar reaction.

"_I have to know," Elena told her friend. "I don't know what else to do."_

"_Elena, I really think you need to ask him yourself."_

"_I did ask him."_

"_And?"_

"_And he said he stopped loving her a long time ago."_

"_Then…"_

"_I don't believe him."_

"_Then that should tell you everything you need to know right there. Elena, if you can't believe him; if you don't trust him, then the relationship has reached its conclusion. Don't you agree?"_

Elena had asked herself the same question over and over again. It wasn't so much that she thought Stefan was lying to her; it was just that she didn't know if he himself knew the truth. From the time Katherine had left the tomb and started working with them to defeat Klaus, Stefan had been growing more and more distant by the day. Now Klaus was dead, and Katherine was still hanging around. Why the hell was she still in Mystic Falls? The potion that Bonnie had made for her would bring all buried feelings to the surface, and force people to tell the truth.

"_Tell me this has nothing to do with all the time you've been spending with Damon lately," Bonnie had said to her._

It was bad enough Katherine would be joining them, but adding Damon to the mix of truth-bearing seemed far too dangerous. Elena had thought their friendship was on its way to being completely repaired, but judging by what he'd said today, and that kiss, they still had unresolved issues. His kiss had taken her by surprise, and just like the last time he had kissed her like that, she had fought tooth and nail not to give in and surrender to it.

She smiled weakly at Stefan as he frowned at her. Guilt was making its way through her system now, pervading her body like poison. She would have taken the bottle home, but Damon was making her go through with this.

"To the truth, and all its glory," Damon toasted, before downing his tumbler like a shot.

Elena tried not to choke on the liquid she was now being forced to drink. She had already tasted the odd flavor when Damon kissed her. It actually tasted less potent when drinking it from a glass.

"This smells…strange," Stefan said, unimpressed by the contents of his glass.

"Something's off, and I don't think it's just the alcohol." Katherine said, her eyes flicking between the tumbler in her hand and Elena.

"I believe it would be offensive to Elena, if you choose not to drink the gift she so lovingly bought you, Stefan," Damon told Stefan.

Stefan nodded, smiled apologetically at Elena, and then drank up. Damon was wondering how he could get Katherine to drink hers when Stefan put a hand on her arm, and gave her a look. Apparently a look from Stefan was all she needed. Damon looked at Elena, who had also seen their quiet exchange and was looking on with such insecurity he almost felt sorry for her. Well, she had come here with the intention of finding out the truth. Soon she would know. Damon hoped she could handle the truth, because he wasn't going to stick around and comfort her.

"Does this stuff kick in straight away?" he asked her.

Elena glared at him, but nodded.

"What's going on here?" Stefan asked, looking between Damon and Elena.

"Elena wants to play a game," Damon explained helpfully, seeing Elena at a loss for words.

"I like games," Katherine said to no-one in particular.

"Good," Damon said. "I'm hoping this one will be an all-nighter."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: As I stated last chapter, this story is therapy for me. I love D/E, and that means both parts of the 'ship', but I'm tired of watching a certain character suffer so much EVERY single episode. I'm tired of being fed breadcrumbs; of hanging out for a couple of minutes of D/E scenes here and there. I'm tired of worrying that that D/E will never be. Most of all I'm tired of the way these two impact me so much, but they do. I don't understand it. They have me totally sucked in.

A couple of months ago, I read a fantastic piece of fanfiction, that depressed me so much I couldn't write for days. It's part of what inspired this mini fic. I never expected this story to receive this kind of response, and I thank everybody who subscribed and reviewed. I wish I could offer you more. It lacks polish, and the realism that some of my favorite authors could inject into this kind of story, but I hope if you read it that you can find something you like about it.

When I sat down to write this chapter, it was like setting off a room full of mines and not knowing which way to look first. With four characters (even thought it's only two POV, I had my work cut out for me). I hope it's all clear enough.

With many thanks for reading, and apologies for the loooong author's note, I wish you all a happy weekend.

Lots of Love,

LoveEpicLove

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**Tonight We Tell The Truth: Part 2 **

"What game are we playing, Elena?" Katherine asked.

Elena watched Damon pour himself another drink and tried to determine if he was about to tell Stefan and Katherine what was in that bottle. He looked up at her, but his expression was completely blank. Elena's gaze shifted between the three vampires in the room. She'd come here tonight wanting to know the truth, but now she thought it would be better to leave here with these relationships still in tact.

"You know, it's late. I think I might skip tonight."

"Elena…" Stefan started.

"Isn't going anywhere," Damon said with finality.

Elena locked eyes with Damon. She wondered why he was doing this. Did he want to destroy the relationship she had with his brother? Did he believe that her relationship with Stefan could be ruined so easily?

"What is going on?" Stefan asked again, looking between the two of them. "Elena?"

"I know what this is," Katherine said, grinning slyly. "I thought it smelt familiar."

Elena looked at Damon, to see if he would help her, but he shrugged. Instead of sounding angry at being tricked, Katherine sounded more amused and pleased by the situation.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on here?" Stefan said.

"I think Elena should answer the question," Katherine told him, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

"Elena, what's going on?" Stefan asked her, his irritation with being the only person in the dark clearly growing with every second that passed.

"I came here tonight because I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we can go somewhere more…private?"

Stefan looked alarmed, only adding to Elena's growing sense of dread.

"Neither of you are going anywhere," Damon told them as if he owned the night.

Elena didn't want to do this here in front of them, surely Damon could understand that. She walked up to him, and put her hand on his arm. "Don't make me do this here. This is between Stefan and I."

Damon shook her hand off. She always thought she could get what she wanted from him by appealing to him to be the good guy. Well she'd made it abundantly clear that it didn't matter how good he was, it would never be enough to win her love. So what was the point in playing the good guy tonight?

"No can do, Elena."

Her eyes widened a little. Was it really such a shock to her that he wouldn't give her everything she wanted? Stefan joined them now.

"Elena," he said to her softly. "Come upstairs with me."

"She's staying here," Damon told his brother.

The tone of his voice was enough to make both Elena and Stefan stare at him.

"Ask them what's in the bottle, Stefan," Katherine instructed, from across the room. "You might get an answer that way."

Stefan spared Katherine a quick glance before turning back to them. "What's in the bottle, Damon?"

"Bonnie's truth potion."

Damon didn't have any trouble answering his brother's question. Tonight was about the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and it was all coming out tonight. By Stefan's stunned expression he certainly hadn't seen that one coming. Well, it wasn't every day your girlfriend turned up trying to poison the truth out of you. Katherine made a show of pouring herself yet another glass of the tainted alcohol, before making her way to the couch. She shouldn't look quite so comfortable, Damon thought.

"Why did you do this, Damon?" Stefan asked him. "What are you trying to prove?"

"It was Elena's idea," Damon told him, not wanting to take _all_ the credit.

"I didn't want to go through with it," Elena snapped at him. "I wanted to take the bottle home."

"This is you just trying to cause trouble between us," Stefan said, sounding more disappointed than angry. He reminded Damon of their father when he spoke to him like that.

"Yes, it's what I live and breathe for."

"Damon, I thought that after everything that had happened with Klaus, and everything that we've been through..."

"That everything was just peachy?"

"He's still upset that both of us chose you," Katherine said to Stefan, sauntering over to where the three of them were standing.

Elena physically flinched at the statement, but Damon looked completely unperturbed by the comment. In fact, Elena thought that Damon was unnaturally calm at the moment. Normally she found it quite easy to feel what was just underneath the vampire's surface, but right now he gave away nothing. She didn't like not being able to read him.

"How does this stuff work exactly?" he asked her, making her aware of the fact that she had been staring at him.

The three vampires waited for her to answer.

"Bonnie said it's a simple truth potion. It forces you to give a truthful answer to any question asked. If the question is vague, the answer may also be vague or blurred. If you ask a direct question, you'll be more likely to get a direct answer."

"Is that it?" Stefan asked her.

She shook her head. "It also brings buried feelings to the surface."

"I didn't know about that part," Damon told Stefan.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Stefan asked her.

"Any thoughts and feelings that are being suppressed become stronger and are more easily able to be felt."

"Goody," said Katherine.

"Why did you bring this here, Elena?" Stefan asked her.

"I wanted to know if you still have feelings for Katherine."

"Finally, the truth comes out," Damon said.

Both of them glared at him.

"You can thank me later," he told them.

"Damon…" Stefan started.

"You're welcome; both of you. So I was thinking we should make this a game of twenty questions. Five questions each, and we take turns. Who's in?" Damon asked.

"I'm in," Katherine said.

"Thought you might be," Damon returned.

"Who could resist the chance to watch this disaster unfold?"

Damon watched Stefan and Elena wrestle with what they were both feeling. Neither of them had a choice about participating, but he let them work that out on their own.

"Who goes first?" Stefan asked, finally resigning himself to playing the game.

"Youngest to oldest," Damon said, hoping to remove the 'deer stuck in headlights' expression from Elena's face. He moved from her side now, no longer able to tolerate the waves of anxiety she was exuding because she was about to find out if his brother loved someone else.

"That means you go first, Elena," Katherine said.

"I know what it means," Elena snapped.

"She's like a little ray of sunshine tonight isn't she?"

"Pour me a drink," Elena said to Damon. "Please," she added, when he merely looked at her.

Elena walked over to collect the glass from him. "Thank you," she added, feeling the need to be polite to him tonight.

She walked up to Stefan who was sitting on the couch slightly away from Katherine. She sculled the alcohol Damon had poured for her, before looking Stefan in the eye. "Do you still love Katherine?" she asked him.

Stefan closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Yes," Stefan told her quietly.

"Is that why you brought the potion, Elena?" Katherine asked, amused. "Because I could have saved you and Bonnie the trouble."

"Is that your first question?" Damon asked Katherine, appearing beside Elena, who looked like she was about to collapse. If she happened to fall he might as well be there to catch her one last time.

"Sure, it's not like I need my five questions anyway."

"Then phrase your question correctly, Katherine."

Katherine gave Damon a look of mild annoyance before turning back to Elena.

"Elena, did you bring the truth potion to find out if Stefan still loves me?"

"Yes, but…"

Katherine turned to Stefan. "She doesn't trust you."

"With good reason," Elena said to Stefan, finally finding her voice. "Whenever I've asked you that question in the past, you've always said no; that your love for her is in the past."

"I thought it was for a long time. Lately…feelings aren't black and white, Elena. The feelings I have for Katherine, they're…"

"They're complicated," Damon finished for him.

"You've caused enough trouble tonight, Damon." Stefan stood up and put his hands on Elena's arms, stroking them softly. "I love _you_, you know that."

"But you also love _her_," Elena said, hearing her voice waver slightly.

"Don't you also love Damon?"

"Yes," Elena said, feeling the answer roll off her tongue before she could stop it. Damon was still standing beside her, and for a moment she felt him tense; felt the familiar tension underneath the surface that she was used to experiencing when she was around him. "But not the way I love you," she finished telling Stefan.

She hated feeling torn between them, but she'd told the truth. She loved Damon differently to Stefan; she loved Damon in ways that made no sense to her. Suppressing those feelings had been her safeguard against becoming like Katherine. A dull ache began to drum in her chest as she tried not to think about how often she'd hurt him for the sake of not being Katherine.

"See," Stefan said to her. "It's easy to love two people."

His eyes pleaded with her to understand, but Elena didn't understand at all. Were Stefan's feelings for her mixed up with his feelings for her vampire double? Katherine had hurt and threatened Elena and her family, yet Stefan still loved her. His love for Katherine raised so many questions about their relationship that Elena couldn't decide which one to ask first.

"It's your turn, Damon" Katherine prompted, in a bored voice. "Is this where we get to witness you have a break down while you ask Elena why she won't ever love you the way she loves Stefan?"

"No," Damon said, the urge to answer the question as strong as his urge to strangle the vampire he had once loved. "Consider that your second question."

"You're the one imposing a five rule limit. Why do you get to make the rules tonight?" she asked curiously.

"Because it's my last night here in Mystic Falls," he explained as if she was five years old, instead of five hundred, "and this is my going away party. That's your third question."

"You're leaving?" Stefan asked him.

"Yes," Damon answered.

He took in the three shocked faces around him. He didn't know why any of them would be so surprised.

"Elena is safe; Klaus is dead," he explained, and there was nothing here for him but the constant pain of watching Elena love his brother.

"You never said anything," Stefan said to him.

"I didn't realize I'm obligated to tell you everything," Damon told him. "You should be happy I'm leaving you in peace."

"When did you decide you were leaving?" Elena demanded of him.

"Tonight."

She'd done this, Elena thought. He was leaving because of this, or because of her, or because of both. She'd finally pushed him over the edge. She couldn't cope with this; not tonight. Finding out that Stefan still loved Katherine was one thing, but to hear Damon was leaving tomorrow was too much to process right now. She needed Damon; she needed him here to help her get through whatever was happening between her and Stefan. When her world was spinning normally, Damon made it feel off kilter, but when her world was off kilter, Damon made it feel normal. She needed him here for things to feel right, and even as she acknowledged that she was selfish for wanting it that way, it didn't change how she felt.

"That's how easy it is, Elena," Katherine said to her.

"How easy what is?"

"That's how easy it is to decide you want to keep them both."

"I don't…I would never…"

"Ask Damon to stay. That's funny; I thought you were about to."

"It wouldn't matter if she did," Damon told both of them, putting his glass down.

Elena didn't even have time to blink at the coldness in his voice as she watched Damon stand right in front of Katherine. He leaned over her, so that they were eye level.

"It's my turn to ask a question."

"Let me guess," Katherine said, rolling her eyes, "you want to know why I didn't pick you; why I didn't love you."

Damon felt anger, resentment and the bitter sting of rejection swirling through him as the potion worked its magic on him. He didn't want his life to be about just these things anymore. He didn't want his life to be about just these women anymore. And so it was time to say goodbye to both of them, but before he did, he needed closure from the woman who had started all of this.

"Why wasn't it me?" he asked Katherine. "Why is it never me?"


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I was waiting on Katherine before I started writing this part. It took a while for Kat to give me an honest answer, let me tell you. I expected this chapter to go in a different direction, and I was certainly worried about how someone would react, but I'd forgotten something. Some corniness present, but hey, this is my therapy session. I don't think Stefan lovers will like this chapter overly, but anyway, on with the story.

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_"Why wasn't it me?" he asked Katherine. "Why is it never me?"_

**Tonight We Tell The Truth: Part 3**

Elena knew that Katherine's answer had the potential to change Damon; to push him over the edge so that he was gone forever. Elena wanted to look away. She cared about Damon enough; she loved him enough, to not want to watch Katherine break him _again_. However, she couldn't turn away. She wanted to comfort Damon; to touch him, but she knew he wouldn't welcome anything from her right now.

Katherine sighed heavily. "There was never any challenge when it came to making you love me. You loved me so easily; too easily. You never saw me for who I really was."

Damon let her words sink in for a moment. He waited to feel the anger he thought he should feel. He waited to feel rage exploding inside of him. He loved too easily; he wasn't a challenge. He repeated the words to himself.

"But Stefan did?" he asked bitterly.

"Yes."

Katherine's eyes flicked up and landed on Stefan, and Damon thought it was the first time all night she'd actually looked vulnerable. There was a flash of uncertainty in her eyes, but then it was gone. Katherine's gaze lingered warmly on Stefan for a moment, before moving along and settling on Elena.

"Stefan and I have always shared a connection. As much as he might deny it, we're connected, and we always will be."

Damon laughed humorlessly. "He'd never pick _you_ over _her_."

The aim had been to exploit her one weakness, and hit her where it hurt, but Katherine just smiled at him, completely unperturbed by his remark.

"Wouldn't he?" Katherine challenged.

"No," Damon told her, fed up with her smug attitude. "I'd never let him."

"You're going to tell me who I can and can't be with now, Damon?" Stefan asked him, suddenly.

The nightmare unfolding before her was everything Elena had hoped to avoid. She didn't want to hear that Stefan saw the 'real' Katherine. She didn't want to hear that they shared some twisted love, and connection; and she didn't want to see Stefan argue with Damon that he could pick Katherine if he wanted to.

"Don't be an idiot, Stefan," Damon told him.

"This protective big brother thing comes a bit too late, Damon. Besides, you're leaving. This doesn't concern you."

Damon looked between Katherine and Stefan with some confusion. He must be missing the vital piece of this puzzle. The fact that his younger brother felt something for the vampire who had screwed them both wasn't a huge surprise; but the fact that Stefan wasn't dismissing Katherine for Elena was.

He looked at Elena. He could see the inner fight taking place withing her right now. He could tell she wasn't that far off breaking. She had come here to find out what Stefan's feelings were for Katherine, but she really hadn't expected this. As their eyes locked, Damon felt her pain acutely. Not only did he love too easily; he loved completely. Even now he was too consumed with what Elena was feeling, to focus on the anger he wanted to feel toward both Elena and Katherine.

"Wouldn't you be happy if Stefan stepped aside, Damon?" Katherine asked him now. He turned back to Katherine.

"No. Stefan wouldn't be stepping aside. He'd be picking someone who has done nothing but think of herself; who has manipulated, lied, and probably never told the truth before tonight, over someone who has done nothing but care for everyone else, whether they deserve it or not."

Elena's heart skipped a beat when Damon looked at her again. The warmth in his eyes was so great that she felt his love for her penetrating every cell in her body. He was looking at her like she was his entire world, and reason for being, and it was impossible to not be moved.

He loved her. Of course she knew he loved her. He would never have stayed and fought Klaus if he hadn't loved her; but she'd just watched the anger he felt on her behalf, eclipse the pain that she'd seen Katherine inflict upon him. He was more concerned for her than for himself. He would never stop fighting for her to be happy. Not while he was around.

"If Stefan stepped aside, Damon, you might actually stand a chance with Elena."

"Because that's all I've ever wanted; to be second best, to be picked after Stefan moved aside." Now the fury was swirling through Damon with such ferocity that he literally saw the color red dance in front of his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe _I_ stepped aside? Maybe I gave her up because it was for the best; because I thought Stefan was the better man for her?"

"No," Katherine replied, disinterested.

"You didn't need to step aside, Damon. You never had her," Stefan told him.

"I stopped fighting _you_ for her, Stefan."

"You never stopped fighting for her."

"I never stopped fighting for her life, and I never stopped wanting her, no."

"Yet tomorrow you leave."

Elena had felt Damon's acceptance and willingness to let her go all evening. His goodbye was in his eyes right now, as he looked at her, and it had also been in his kiss. She'd just been so busy fighting any feelings she had for him; of worrying about accidentally encouraging him, that she'd missed the punishing taste of his farewell at the time. He had given up on her.

Elena felt her heart squeeze painfully at the thought. He was leaving because he'd decided at some point that she would never pick him. He believed Stefan was the better man for her. Overwhelmed by emotions; emotions that were too complicated to explain to herself, or to anyone else, she walked up to him.

"You can't go. I don't want you to go," she said to him, trying to tell him with her eyes, that he meant so much to her; that she couldn't lose him. "Please don't go."

Damon wanted to be angry at her for wanting him to stay; for asking him to stay, but he couldn't. While the anger and the resentment were still bouncing around uncomfortably inside of him, the love he felt for her was still at the top of the pile of emotions he felt.

"You can't have both of us," he told her simply, cupping the side of her face with his hand, and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

She took his hand from her face, and held it in hers. "I know," she whispered.

"You've made your choice, and it wasn't me."

His voice was steady, but conveyed a heartbreaking sorrow that made Elena's eyes well up. She needed to tell him how she felt, but she didn't know how to put a label on it. These feeling weren't new to her, but they had been carefully buried for so long, that trying to articulate what she felt now was close to impossible. She wanted to tell him that nothing would be right without him here in her life. She knew she was being selfish. With Damon she had always been selfish. He had let her take from him for a while now. He had accused her of as much earlier this evening. He'd stayed to protect her, even while she'd pushed him away, and told him it would always be his brother. Guilt choked at her, making her wish the last few months had been different in many ways.

Katherine coughed with the subtlety of a sledgehammer breaking glass.

"This is touching," Katherine said, without an ounce of sincerity in her voice, "but are we still playing a game, because I've lost track of who's asked what?"

"You did this," Stefan accused Damon, "this was your last ditch attempt to take her from me."

"Stefan, you don't really believe that," Elena said, turning to him.

Not only was Stefan choosing to ignore the part that _all_ of them were playing in tonight's unfolding drama, but now he also believed Damon could just 'take her'. She didn't appreciate his possessiveness. She didn't belong to him. Clearly he didn't trust her; didn't have any trust in their relationship, and yet he was the one who had lied. He was the one who had kept Katherine under the same roof as himself, and spouted off about loving two people.

"Yes. I went to Bonnie and asked for a truth serum because I thought my boyfriend was lying about his feelings. Are you out of your mind?" Damon asked Stefan.

"Your leaving is just another manipulation designed to tear our relationship apart."

"You're doing that all by yourself," Damon told his brother, looking between Stefan and Elena.

"You wanted to drive a wedge between us; that's why you stayed. Now you've done that."

Stefan closed the short distance between them, and Damon moved to stand in front of Elena. She didn't think Damon was even conscious of the move to shield her from her boyfriend, but it was noticeable to Stefan, who now looked like he wanted to kill both of them. Stefan's face was twisted into an awful sneer. The pure hatred in his eyes was what scared Elena the most. She'd never seen him like this before. Obviously the potion was working on him, but Elena wondered how she'd missed seeing any of these feelings before. Then again, tonight had revealed she'd missed a lot when it came to Stefan.

Elena had never been afraid of Damon in the way she was afraid of Stefan right now. She had been afraid Damon would hurt her friends at times, or her family, but she never believed Damon would hurt her. Perhaps some part of her had always understood his love for her, even if she had chosen not to acknowledge the extent of his feelings until tonight.

Stefan and Damon stood nose to nose.

"You're in my way. You're always in my way," Stefan told Damon.

"You won't see me again, after tomorrow."

Stefan looked behind Damon, at Elena, who was edging closer to Damon. She was literally using him as a shield, standing right behind him.

"_She_ wants you to stay."

Stefan's disgust was unmistakable, and Elena shivered under his icy gaze. Both brothers could be cold, but where Elena wanted to break through Damon's coldness and reach him, Stefan's made her want to run as fast as she could. Elena had the bizarre idea that with Damon she had met the monster, and discovered the man, but with Stefan, she had met the man, but she was only just discovering the monster.

"It's not her decision," Damon said calmly.

"You don't see it, do you, Damon? That doesn't matter. You've managed to worm your way into her affections, despite the fact that you've fucked-up more times than I can count," Stefan told him angrily. "Well you're right; she can't have us both. Tonight she has to choose who she never sees or speaks to again."

"Finally," Katherine muttered. "This has been coming all night. Who can't you live without, Elena? Is it Stefan, or is it Damon?"

* * *

So, when I started writing this mini-fic, I was writing without a set idea of what was going to happen. All I knew was that I wanted the truth to come out. One more part and we're done with this story. There are issues I'd like to cover, and I wanted to stick to the twenty questions format, but I haven't had huge amounts of luck enforcing my will with this lot together, so I'm just letting the characters lead, and writing what I see. Thanks for reading.

Lots of Love,

LoveEpicLove.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here is the last installment. I want to thank all of you who have looked in, and commented on my TVD therapy session. I've been really touched that so many of you left a comment with your own thoughts and feelings about what is happening on the show. This has been so different from the other stories I've written, but I really needed this. I now pronounce my therapy session complete.

Lots of Love,

LoveEpicLove

* * *

_"Finally," Katherine muttered. "This has been coming all night. Who can't you live without, Elena? Is it Stefan, or is it Damon?"_

**Tonight We Tell The Truth: Part 4**

"I can live without both of them," Elena told her. "I would continue to breathe, and my heart would continue to beat no matter who was here."

Katherine pursed her lips. Elena was aware that Katherine had intended the question differently, but the potion made her answer the question truthfully. And the truth was that she wasn't going to _literally_ die if they weren't here.

Katherine stood up and walked in front of Stefan, so the two of them faced her and Damon. How had it come to this? How had she and Stefan ended up on opposite sides?

Katherine looked between Damon and Stefan. "Elena doesn't think twice about dangling you boys on a string, and you think _I'm_ a cold heartless bitch."

Damon stepped forward, and Elena wondered what kind of expression he was wearing as he aggressively addressed Katherine.

"You are a cold heartless bitch. Make no mistake about that."

"I look out for myself. I don't pretend otherwise."

"You think I pretend otherwise?" Elena asked, stepping out from behind Damon, feeling the need to defend herself.

"You have the two of them completely fooled," Katherine told her. "You've played both of them just as beautifully as I did."

"_You_ tore them apart. I have never treated them the way you did."

"Is that what you tell yourself? You say you love both of them, and yet you won't set either one of them free. You want to take a cold hard look in the mirror, Elena."

"You wanted the affection of both of them. I never asked for that. I never _wanted_ both of them to love me," Elena told her angrily.

In the moment of silence which followed, Elena wondered if tonight could possibly get any worse. She hadn't meant it like _that_, even if it was the truth.

"Do you hear that, Damon?" Katherine purred. "She never wanted you to love her. She doesn't want your love."

"Oh, I hear it," Damon said through gritted teeth. "It's not the surprise you were hoping for, Katherine."

"How very noble of you, Damon, to stand there and defend someone who considers your love such a burden."

"That's me," Damon said, smiling a smile devoid of any humor. "I'm just the epitome of selfless."

"She has treated you worse than I ever did."

"_She_ never tried to have me killed."

"True. But I've been honest with you since I came back."

"No you haven't," Damon told her.

"Fine then, I have been honest about my feelings for you since I came back."

"Can't thank you enough for that, and why do you care, anyway?"

"It's extremely annoying to have to watch and listen to the two of you walking around this house thinking she's some perfect version of me."

"You could have left, and not come back."

"But I'm not done here."

"Of course not. You're too busy hoping Stefan will have a memory lapse and forget what a self-serving slut you are."

"Enough," Stefan told both them impatiently.

Damon looked at the pinched expression on Stefan's face, the panic-stricken expression on Elena's face, and the look victory on Katherine's face, and wondered why he was waiting until tomorrow to leave.

"You're right," Damon told his brother.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked with frustration, as Damon began to walk away.

"To get an early start on packing."

"You wanted to play this game, Damon. Now you're going to see it through."

Damon faced his brother. "What I wanted, Stefan, was to cut through the bullshit for a night. We've done that. The game is over."

"Elena still has to decide what she wants; who she wants."

"She wants you."

"She loves us both."

"It's never made a difference before. Why should it matter now?"

"She has to choose."

"No, she doesn't. She never wanted this choice, and she never wanted me to love her." He looked at her, and Elena felt something like a knife twisting in her heart. "I'm not an option. Not anymore." He looked at Stefan. "Now you just have to decide if Katherine is leaving or staying." He turned to Elena. "And you have to work out if Stefan lying and keeping Katherine here is okay. Problem sorted."

"Good for you, Damon," Katherine sung out as he walked away.

Damon never turned around, but he put his hand up as if to wave goodbye to all of them. It was as Damon vanished from view that Elena finally realized, it wasn't always Stefan. It was Damon who she was meant to be with. It was Damon she would suffer the most without. It was Damon she would gain the most from being with. But if she'd ever had any real chance of making things right with the vampire who had stood by her, and waited for her to come to the same conclusion he had come to long ago, it was gone. He wasn't an option, not anymore.

She'd been too busy worrying about protecting everybody else's feelings to even work out what she felt. He had loved her, defended her, protected her, and always been honest with her, and she loved him. She wanted nothing more than to tell Damon how she felt, and to ask for another chance, but she still had to deal with Stefan.

"Why is Katherine still here?" she asked Stefan calmly.

"She wants me to leave with her."

"Why haven't you told her you won't be leaving with her? Why hasn't she gone?"

"Because I don't know if I want to leave yet or not."

"Well I think that says it all."

"You're making an excuse so that when you pick him, you can blame it on me."

It was the first time Elena had really thought of Stefan as a coward. He wanted her to pick Damon so he could blame their failed relationship on her. He'd been so distant with her, and now Elena saw it for what it was; a passive-aggressive approach to end their relationship.

Tonight had revealed she didn't know Stefan, not the real Stefan. She had looked at him and seen what she wanted to see, and he had given her the version of himself that he had wanted her to see. Painfully, Elena acknowledged that Katherine likely knew and understood Stefan better than she did.

"You stood there tonight and demanded I choose between you and you brother, but tonight I've seen a whole other side to you. I don't even know who you are."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd choose him," he told her bitterly.

"This isn't about Damon, Stefan."

He looked so angry and disappointed in her, and Elena thought she'd fallen off the pedestal he had kept her on. Damon had seen her, flaws and all, and loved her anyway, but Stefan hadn't looked close enough, or he hadn't wanted to. They had both had their illusions stripped away tonight, and they were seeing each other clearly for the first time. Stefan was still shaking his head.

"Katherine told me you'd pick Damon."

It didn't matter what she said to him right now, he was going to blame this on her feelings for Damon. She _was_ picking Damon, but it wasn't the reason their relationship over.

"She was right," Elena told him, giving him the answer he wanted. He wouldn't have accepted any other response.

"I knew it," Stefan said to her. "All along, I knew this would happen."

"Then you knew it before I did."

"All the things he did, and you forgave him every time. There was always something between you two."

"Whatever it is you saw, Stefan, I ignored it. I chose not to act on it. I hurt him, so that I wouldn't hurt you."

Stefan didn't say anything, just kept looking at her.

"I put you before him; I put us before him. I knew I was hurting him, but I did it anyway; even with everything I felt for him."

God, she knew how wrong that sounded, but she'd done what she thought was right. She hadn't wanted to be like Katherine.

"You were supposed to put me first," Stefan told her.

"And I did, but you didn't put us first. Katherine is still here, and you couldn't be honest with me about why, or what you felt. Damon is leaving, because he came to the conclusion I'd always choose you. Katherine would have left too, if you'd given her reason to think the same. We're over, Stefan. We've been over for a while now. "

"You're right," he said to her finally, sitting down and putting his head in his hands.

Elena watched Katherine sit down next to him, and try and comfort him. Katherine giving comfort was something Elena had never seen before, but there it was, right in front of her. Stefan and Katherine's relationship, despite being fraught with deceit, tragedy, and death, was more real than the one she had shared with Stefan.

Leaving them to have their moment, she made her way to Damon's room. She stood in the doorway for a while, watching him pack. If she'd ever had to imagine saying goodbye to Damon, she would have pictured crying, and screaming, and lots and lots of anger. It was eerie and unsettling for things to be so calm and quiet between them. They should be fighting, or yelling; not standing there in complete silence.

"I broke up with Stefan," she told him.

His gaze flicked upwards for a brief moment, before returning to the suitcase he was filling.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Do you want a ride home?"

"No, thanks."

Now they were being polite, and that was worse than the silence. She put her hands in her back pockets, to keep from fidgeting.

"I wanted to say thank you, for tonight."

He looked at her now, his eyes locking with hers.

"It was hard to hear, but I know the truth now."

He nodded, before going back to his packing.

A lump formed in her throat as she walked into his room. "I never wanted to hurt you, Damon."

"I know."

"You were right, there is something going on between us, Damon. I just never wanted to be like _her_."

"I get it, Elena."

"Do you?"

He was still so calm. Elena wondered if he had already mentally left Mystic Falls.

"Yes. I get it. You never wanted to be like Katherine."

"I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought that ignoring what was between us would save us all a lot of pain. I was wrong. I hurt you. I hurt Stefan."

She may have ruined her one chance at real happiness.

"He'll get over it."

She wanted to ask Damon if _he_ would get over it, but she was afraid to hear his answer.

"Katherine will help him," Elena added.

"I should have figured they'd end up together," Damon said with a slight head shake and eye roll.

"They have a connection; just like we do," she told him.

"They do, huh?"

"He still loves her, after everything she put him through; put the two of you through. He'll forgive her, and they'll move past this."

She waited for him to say something. He didn't. She moved towards him, and stood right in front of him, and laid her palm against his cheek.

"Can we move past this?" she asked him.

"You tell me, Elena."

She cupped his face between her palms and pulled his face towards her. This time, when his lips touched hers, she didn't hold back. She let the love, the passion, and the need she felt for him, speak through her kiss and her touch. By the time she pulled away to breathe again, his arms were wrapped around her tightly.

"Is that enough of an answer for you?" she asked.

"I'm going to need more convincing than that," he told her, lowering his mouth to hers again.

She kissed him again, before breaking away.

"I want you to stay, Damon. Not because I can't live without you, or because Stefan will probably leave with Katherine. Not because I'm ready to act on what is between us. Not even because I love you, and I can finally see what you knew from the start."

"Why then?"

"I want you to stay because you want to, and because you'll be happy here."

She'd been so selfish with him; she'd put everybody else before him. Now she just wanted him to be happy.

"This isn't about Stefan and Katherine?"

"No, Damon, this is about us."

"I love you, Elena."

Those words sounded so familiar. She was sure she'd heard him say them before. She was about to ask him about it, when he kissed her again; a toe curling kiss that sent heat zinging through her. Later; she would ask him about that later.


End file.
